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Three Japanese technology companies are testing the durability and performance of lightweight, flexible perovskite solar modules on a pier in Yokohama City. It is part of a larger three year research project underway since late 2023. A Japanese consortium is testing the durability and performance of lightweight, flexible perovskite solar modules at Osanbashi Pier, Yokohama City in windy and salt-air conditions. The outdoor trial is part of a larger 3-year perovskite solar technology research collaboration. The three-month 1 kW perovskite solar module trial on Osanbashi Pier began in November 2024. Three Japan-based companies are participating in the outdoor seaport demonstration: Macnica, a technology and electronics supplier, Reiko, a thin film product manufacturer, and perovskite solar cell specialist Peccell Technologies, which was founded in 2004 as a Toin University of Yokohama spin-off by perovskite solar cell pioneer Tsutomu Miyasaka. Miyasaka, whose academic career spans from the Toin University of Yokohama to the University of Tokyo, is the corresponding author of the widely-cited paper “Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells,” which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 2009 and described the first attempts to design PV technologies based on lead halide perovskites. “The Osanbashi Pier test installation features 80 panels measuring 30 cm x 1 m each,” Miyasaka told pv magazine, noting that the modules have a power conversion efficiency of 10% and are manufactured in a roll-to-roll process with indium tin oxide on plastic (ITO-PET) films. “We are using a module based on ITO-PET films with a thickness of 125 µm and low sheet resistance of 12 ohm/m2,” he added, noting that Peccell is concurrently working on modules with higher efficiencies and greater durability. The modules are installed in sequence to enable comparative verifications. Testing will also verify encapsulant and film durability. In addition, a new mounting system to enable easier attachment/detachment was developed to simplify the replacement of PV modules in the field. The three-year perovskite solar technology development and demonstration initiative began in 2023 in Yokohama and is supervised by Miyasaka himself. The initiative is supported by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (METI). Other projects within the initiative will test the use of perovskite solar panels on wavy, corrugated roofs, and a third project will test the panels on light-framed structures, such as tents or polytunnel-type greenhouses. The target efficiency of the perovskite panels is 20% and the service life target is 15 years. The aim is to make solar power generation possible on the 90% of roofs in Japan that cannot install conventional heavy silicon solar panels, as well as to decarbonize energy use of marine port terminals, ships, and trucks |
